


High and Dry

by ArticulateOx



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: M/M, Suicide mention, ox writes - Freeform, rooty tooty point and shooty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-12-05 15:53:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11581290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArticulateOx/pseuds/ArticulateOx
Summary: "High and Dry. Scuttle their ship, set them adrift, and put their fate in the hands of the stars. The pirate way."





	High and Dry

The fights were almost boring now. They were only verbal spats; yelling, shouting, name-calling, etc. No one was getting punched or shanked, so it didn’t really count as entertainment. If it wasn’t entertainment, it was an inconvenience, and most of the crew was getting tired of it. They began to tiredly gossip, each saying their own piece.

  
  


“What are they fighting about this time?”

  
  


“I don’t even know, and I don’t care.”

  
  


“I heard something about Kraglin messin’ somethin’ up, but the conversation changed, now Krags is mad at the Captain for somethin’.”

  
  


“Auch. I just want to get back to work. I need Yondu to tell me the next course so I can start running the numbers.”

  
  


“Just wait it out. They’ll piss themselves out soon enough.”

  
  


“Naw mate,” an experienced crewmate finally spoke up, “this fight’s different. If you’ve been watching and paying attention, you can tell this fight’s been brewing in Kraglin for a while. He’s got a chip on his shoulder the size of Orion’s belt, and he’s dumping it all out on the cap’n. I think we should watch this one, this one’ll end diff’rently.”

  
  


Sullenly, they turned back and watched the fight unfold. They didn’t quite trust that it would go any different this time, but still, a fight was a fight, and there was nothing else to do.

  
  


Kraglin and Yondu paced on the Bridge, shouting. Yondu was trying to pace away from Kraglin, but Kraglin wouldn’t let this one rest.

  
  


“-you can’t keep pushing all the blame back on me like you’re completely immune all the time. I’m not your scapegoat, I’m your first mate, and you need to start respecting me enough to admit when I’m right!”

  
  


“Krags, we’ll deal with this later, not now-” Yondu looked around for some distraction he could excuse himself for.

  
  


“No we won’t! You know we won’t! You’ll just dance around the problem and strategically forget it!”

  
  


“ _ Kraglin. _ ” There was an extra growl in Yondu’s voice. The experienced crewmates who were watching knew this sign. Something was brewing. Soon, something would snap.

  
  


But something had already snapped in Kraglin. For months now, whenever he had mentioned any mistake Yondu had made, the Captain had always found some way to twist it around, and make it Kraglin’s mistake. It had started with small things like, “Captain, you forgot to order new power conductors.” 

  
  


“No no Krags, you forgot to remind me.” 

  
  


Or “Captain, you need to calculate the course first before we can get underway.” 

  
  


“No no Krags, I know I told you to do that yesterday.” 

  
  


“Captain, you didn’t say anything about-” 

  
  


“I know I did, maybe you weren’t listening.” 

  
  


But soon it had gotten a chuckle out of the crew, which did nothing but encourage Yondu to more insulting heights.

  
  


At first Kraglin had assumed it was simple ‘peacocking,’ and Yondu was doing it for the sake of acting big and tough. But Kraglin had also assumed that there might be some private apology later, or at least an explanation. But the matter kept getting ‘strategically forgotten,’ and Kraglin was left with a wound that got saltier with every careless joke at his expense. 

  
  


He knew better than anyone the inflections to Yondu’s tone of voice just now, but he also knew he had already gone too far--yelling at Yondu, expressing personal emotions in front of everyone, and on the Bridge no less--so there was no reason he could see to keep from adding some of his own growl into his answer.

  
  


_ “WHAT?” _

  
  


It was blatant insubordination, and everybody present knew it. Some chairs creaked as butts scooted forward to the edges, and those who had thought the fight was boring before began to cock an ear.

  
  


Yondu’s eyebrow twitched, and the start of a snarl began to curl his lip, “Obfonteri, if you don’t back down-”

  
  


“If I don’t back down you’ll  _ what?! _ ”

  
  


“If you don’t back down I’ll leave you high and dry, GOT IT?!”

  
  


The crew stopped trying to hide their interest, and all heads snapped over and gawked. Money began to exchange hands, bets were quietly taken, and written down. It was the type of tense situation where one should have been able to hear a pin drop, but the crew was too busy saying ‘I told you so’ and ‘did he really say what I think he just said?’. Eventually things quieted down, and they all waited to hear Kraglin’s response.

  
  


High and Dry. It was essentially a death sentence. To be set adrift in a busted, one-man ship with no engine, and no hope for survival. Only a blaster with enough charge for one shot. Your fate would be in the hands of the stars or the blaster.

  
  


Kraglin and Yondu were standing chest-to-chest, noses practically touching. Kraglin answered in a whisper, but somehow the whole Bridge heard him.

  
  


“I’ll call that bluff.  _ Do it. _ ”

  
  


Only Kraglin could see the twitch in Yondu’s eye. He was trying to process what Kraglin had just said. The only noise from the crew was the shifting of eyes from Kraglin to Yondu and back again, not daring to react to what they had all just heard.

  
  


The pregnant silence was broken when Yondu finally barked an order, “Tullk! Get an escape pod ready. Gef, get a blaster with enough charge for one shot.”

  
  


It began slowly, but soon the Bridge erupted in chatter. Bets were collected, and made again. Confused exclamations were expressed and others tried to keep their heads down and get back to work as quickly as possible, while still others started milling around, slapping Kraglin on the back and wishing him good luck.

  
  


Kraglin and Yondu stood in the middle of it all, staring. Both had called the other’s bluff, and both were waiting for the other to back down. Kraglin ignored the well-wishers and didn’t even react to their pats on his shoulder. This moment was just him and Yondu. 

  
  


Only Yondu noticed the subtle change in Kraglin’s eyes as he accepted his fate. This was it, then. Yondu refused to admit this one, small thing, and now Kraglin was sentenced to death. He bowed his head to Yondu’s ear, “You’d do this?” he asked. “You’d sentence me to death just to be right?”

  
  


In all honesty, Yondu was desperately trying to think of how to stop this. How could he take back those orders, stop the wheels that were put into motion? He didn’t want this to happen, he knew Kraglin was right, but it was as if he was in a play, and his role dictated that he do this. He hated the character he played, but he had no other role.

  
  


Without answering, Yondu stuffed the tight feeling in his chest to the side, and barked to the crew, “Take ‘im out to the ship. Let’s get this done with!” He turned his back, and marched off as the crew expressed their mixed emotions, and did his bidding. Some were gleeful to have some fun. Some solemn, for they knew what was to come. One or two actually spoke up and tried shouting over the din in Kraglin’s defense, but they were soon drowned out by those who wanted a show.

  
  


Kraglin wasn’t sure how he had gotten from the Bridge to the pod, but the next thing he knew, he was staring back at Yondu--his captain, his friend--with dead eyes through the one, small window in the pod. The airlock hissed, Yondu blinked, and the  _ Eclector _ was suddenly a shrinking speck.Kraglin’s fate was in the hands of the stars.

  
  


~~~

  
  


Two days? Three? Who knows, and who cares? The only time keeper Kraglin had was his beard, and body odor. His beard was getting denser, so maybe it had been longer. Time wasn’t really something he bothered keeping track of, because he had so much of it. Did he have enough to rig up anything that might save him, or put out a distress signal? No, not really, not anything worthwhile. But at least he had all the time he needed to think.

  
  


He’d been over the various outcomes in his head. He could reroute power from the life support systems to the scanners or the outgoing signals and send out a distress call, but the chances of some kind, friendly star traveler finding him and allowing him to be safe was a more astronomical set of odds than the actual chances of finding anyone in general. And he wouldn’t be able to do anything worthwhile with the scanners, because he couldn’t keep power from the life support systems for long, for obvious reasons. As for the charge in the blaster, there wasn’t enough there to do anything for more than maybe three seconds. 

  
  


That, and the blaster had started looking mighty tempting.

  
  


Even if he had the option of rescue, what would he do then? Being a Ravager was the one thing he had been good at, and they kicked him out. His past as a Ravager kept him from doing anything above board, and once the announcement was made that he was left High and Dry, he’d be blacklisted from any establishment or ship that was below board.

  
  


A little bar above the blaster trigger had one sliver of orange light at the end. That one sliver held Kraglin’s sanity at the moment. It was his own little back door. A plan B if rescue didn’t come soon enough. No matter how bad it seemed, no matter what villain picked him up from his course, there was always this little escape hatch. Should he just shoot now? It seemed that his only other options was to wait it out, and he’d just end up shooting anyways, wouldn’t he? Besides, the light on the blaster must take some power. At some point the back door would lock, and he wouldn’t have this option.

  
  


”--Krags--?”

 

What? Insanity now? Hearing voices so soon?

  
  


He saw a light from the cupholder. In the dim pod, it was downright blinding, and he jumped, throwing an arm over his face until his eyes adjusted. What was going on? Was this death? Had he shot himself without knowing it, or was the ship about to explode?

  
  


He called back to the light, “Hu-hello?”

  
  


”--Krags! Krags, you’re alive--!”

  
  


Curse the stars, it was Yondu. He had somehow slipped a long-distance com into the pod. That bastard. He couldn’t decide if he wanted Kraglin or not. 

  
  


_ Fish or cut bait,  _ Kraglin thought. 

  
  


“What do you want.” Kraglin stated. His voice was hoarse; he hadn’t used it in a while. He assumed Yondu was calling to taunt him. Kraglin was bitter, but he felt just a bit guilty, talking to a lit cupholder so curtly. 

  
  


”--Krags, please, it’s not too late to turn the ship around. I’ve had a track on your pod this whole time, and there’s an asteroid nearby that we can use to change our course to come get you. Please, we can fix this--”

  
  


Ravager code said otherwise, but Kraglin had stopped caring about the code around two days ago. “How do you plan on fixing it? I admit I was an idiot, come back, tail between my legs, and my new job’s the ship’s janitor or something? We go back to you blaming me for your mistakes and twisting things around on me?”

  
  


”--No, Krags, listen, please--!”

  
  


“That’s toxic, Udonta. It’s what got me here, in this pod, holding my own death in my hands.”

  
  


”--Listen, Krags, I’ll take full blame for this. I mean, it was my fault, bringing up High and Dry in the first place--”

  
  


“That’s not even the point!” Kraglin buried his head in his hands. “This isn’t about High and Dry--though I do want it on the record that when I try confronting you on your faults, your first instinct is to put me to death--but that’s not what this was all about! How clueless-”

  
  


”--Of course I know what this is about--!”

  
  


The crack in Yondu’s voice, the one that only comes from sobbing, shocked Kraglin a little, and kept his mouth shut as Yondu spilled his heart out.

  
  


”--Of course I know I’ve been using you like my own whipping boy. Of course I know you hate me for it all, and of course I know this whole debacle’s been my fault, and my fault entirely. I just… I didn’t know how to… I couldn’t....--”

  
  


Kraglin wasn’t sure if he should believe it or not. “Why didn’t you do anything?”

  
  


”--...I didn’t quite know what to do--”

  
  


“You could’ve at least talked to me privately? Say all this before… well, before I was on my way to die, or something?”

  
  


”--For some reason, that seemed scarier than apologizing in front of the crew--”

  
  


Yondu wasn’t sure if he heard it at first. Maybe it was static, but… no, he was hearing it right. Kraglin was laughing. 

  
  


In the pod, Kraglin was slumped over his one chair, shaking with a mirthless laughter. Tears from all sorts of emotions were hitting the armrest. 

  
  


”--Krags?... What… what’s so funny--?”

  
  


“I’m stuck in a one-man pod, high and dry, fate in the hands of the stars and all that, a one-shot blaster for my only friend, all because  _ you were too chicken to tell me you were sorry! _ ” Kraglin’s laughter trailed off. “I didn’t really think you were that much of a coward, Udonta.”

  
  


Yondu didn’t know how to respond with a knife like that in his chest. ”--Krags, please, I’m going against the Ravager code even talking to you. I could be thrown out for all of this, and I’m taking that risk because I’m trying to say I’m sorry--!”

  
  


“Why bother. Why bother saying sorry? The crew won’t take this quietly. Someone’s bound to report back to Stakar. I mean, you can’t just slip back in quietly after High and Dry. They’ll never stay quiet.” Kraglin weighed the blaster in his hands. “There’s no coming back from this.”

  
  


”--The crew can shut up and deal with it, or they’ll have their own one-man pod and blaster to deal with--”

  
  


“You know it won’t work like that.”

  
  


”--It could! Please,” Yondu’s voice cracked again, and Kraglin could hear a different tone in his words, “Kraglin, I don’t even know what I was thinking, bringing up High and Dry. I haven’t been thinking at all these past months. I’ve been treating you like plasma grease, and I want everything to go back to how it was--or maybe how it  _ should _ be--”

  
  


“You don’t even know how it should be. What’s the point?”

 

  
”--Then tell me how it should be--!”

  
  


“You’re not getting it, there is no ‘getting back to how it was.’ I’ve told you, there’s no coming back from this. The crew’ll riot if you come after me, and no one else is around. Besides, like I said, I cornered you on something, and you literally shoot me off the ship. I mean, what does that say about our relationship?”

  
  


”--It says I’m an idiot, that’s what--”

  
  


Kraglin sniffed. Had he been crying? There weren’t any tears, he hadn’t been drinking anything. “It’s just not going to work. Listen, just leave me alone, please. I’ve got my fate in the hands of the stars, or this blaster, I guess, so-”

  
  


”--Krags?--”

  
  


“What.”

  
  


”--Put the blaster away--”

  
  


Kraglin frowned. “Why? Like I said, there’s no coming out of this, no fancy ‘Yondu plan’ that’ll fix everything.” 

  
  


”--Joke’s on you, bud, I’ve already ordered the course altered at the next asteroid. You just need to hang on, okay? Just put the blaster off in a corner--”

  
  


“Yondu, it’s not that simple.” Kraglin could tell Yondu was trying to lift the mood, make him laugh, call him ‘bud.’ 

  
  


”--It’ll be that simple if I have anything to say about it--”

  
  


“ _ Udonta,  _ please, just leave me be. There’s no way-” Kraglin shifted, and lifted a hand to his temple and there was a flash of  red light, a sizzle, and the pod went dark.

  
  


The white-blue light of the com and the cupholder itself was replaced with a smoldering mess of molten plastic, and the blaster lay cold and dead in Kraglin’s hand.

  
  


Oh, how he envied that blaster.

  
  


~~~

  
  


“Krags?... Kraglin?!” Yondu shook the com, hoping it had just been arrant static, and that he hadn’t heart what sounded like a blaster going off. Maybe there had been a loose wire in the com. Maybe Kraglin dropped it.

  
  


Millions of trivial ideas were swimming around his head, trying to come up with a rational explanation for the noise, and the cut in communication. Any explanation other than the only one he could think about. 

  
  


Kraglin Obfonteri had shot himself. 

  
  


And it was all his fault.

  
  


The com, now worthless, shattered on the wall across the room. The automatic door couldn’t move fast enough, and Yondu careened out into the passageway slid into a wall on the way to the Bridge. The next thing he knew, he was shaking the navigator by the lapels and screaming, “ _ How far to that asteroid?! _ ”

  
  


It took him a moment to realize the navi couldn’t answer his question while he was being strangled. For some reason it took immense control to put them down. 

  
  


The navi was still shaking after Yondu released them, and they tried to remember how to breathe, “Ah-A third of a day-cycle, cap’n!”

  
  


“Start charging the engines! I want us redirected and off like a bullet for Krag’s ship as soon as possible! Half a cycle, you got that?! You got half a day cycle to put that pod in my cargo hold!” and off he went, back down the corridor, walking like he’d kill anyone in his path.

  
  


The navi turned to their mate, “Was he cryin’?”

  
  


“Prolly so. Something must’ve gone down, like, Kraglin was picked up by someone nasty or something. I mean, he’s not even trying to hide the fact he kept tabs on Krags after High and Dry.”

  
  


“What in Polaris’ name do you think happened?”

  
  


“Cap’n prolly realized what ‘blue balls’ means.”

  
  


“Ha! Blue-er balls more like.”

  
  


“Blueberries.”

  
  


“Aw shove it mate! You ruined my breakfast now!”

  
  


~~~

  
  


There had been the initial panic of ‘holy shit, I’ve shot the only form of communication I had, my only hope of rescue, and I wasted my one blaster shot because I’m a butter-fingered idiot who can’t move without accidentally hitting the trigger, apparently.’

  
  


But a stupid, dumb, horrible idea had formed, and it was probably going to get Kraglin killed for real, but it was worth a shot (or worth a try, at least). 

  
  


He was going to switch the power between the distress signal in the control panel, and the life support. There was only enough voltage to run one at a time, so he’d have to keep an eye on the oxygen levels so that he knew when to switch it back and forth. It was an almost redundant endeavour, however. Yondu had said he had a track on Kraglin’s pod, but if Kraglin could give a blip on the radar, it would be better than nothing. That, and keeping busy was better than sitting in a chair that doubled as a bed and toilet and wishing he had used the blaster the second he launched from the  _ Eclector _ . The only problem was he ran the risk of fainting before switching the power back to life support and suffocating to death before help could come.

  
  


Seemed simple enough.

  
  


Well, he knew it wouldn’t be simple for real, but Kraglin didn’t have any other options.

  
  


~~~

  
  


Yondu’s legs were sore, but he couldn’t even think of sitting down. He had been pacing like a caged animal in his room for the past two hours. He didn’t know what else to do, and pacing was better than thinking. He couldn’t contact Kraglin again, and he make the ship go any faster, not without something to push off of. That was the kicker about space travel, once you launched, you couldn’t change course or speed unless you hit something, or tractor-beamed yourself around an asteroid.

  
  


Making the calculations required for slingshotting around an asteroid was the only thing keeping Yondu from an infinite guilt-trip at the moment. But no matter how many numbers he multiplied, what velocities he accounted for, there was always a thought at the back of his mind that he couldn’t seem to think around.

  
  


There wasn’t a single thing Kraglin had said that wasn’t true. Yondu had known what he was doing to Krags was wrong, and he knew he should’ve apologized, but worst of all he knew Kraglin deserved better. The reason he never talked to Kraglin about it, even in private, was that he was worried Kraglin would actually try to find someone better. 

  
  


Yondu cursed himself. This really was the end of it, wasn’t it? Kraglin was dead, and on top of that, Kraglin had died hating him. Yondu didn’t even know what he was chasing after. A one-man pod with a blaster-burned corpse? What good would that do? How would that make up for the fuel they were going to burn through trying to get to it? He was chasing after a coffin.

  
  


He fell into bed. His legs tingled from pacing, and the calculations lay forgotten in his mind as tears clouded his eyes. How many times had he shared this bed with Kraglin? Why did the bed feel so big and empty now? It was so cold. Maybe he had reached the stage of grief that came after ‘denial’, whatever it was. All he could think about were the fond memories of him and his first mate. The prison they had escaped from together. The first time they got their shackles off, and Kraglin cried like a baby, he was so happy to be out. Then when they bought the  _ Eclector _ and Kraglin--that blessed devil--had made a big show of complaining about a nonexistent smell so they could mark a few thousand credits off the price. Yondu still thought that trick was brilliant, and he wasn’t even trying to hide his sobs. He remembered their first big score, before the  _ Eclector _ , when they had to go into a planet’s rings to find this one, specific asteroid, and-.

  
  


The clicks from the door’s intercom startled him out of his grief and regret, and back to reality. A nervous voice came from the other side, --”Captain, we’re close to the asteroid.”--

  
  


Yondu sat bolt upright, and yelled back at the navi on the other side of the door, “Tractor beam us in, and slingshot us around on full power! I’ll get you the numbers for our new course in a minute!”

  
  


He knew he heard a sigh from the other side of the intercom, but he didn’t have the energy to snap back at it. Yes, the maneuver would burn through a lot of fuel, and yes, he didn’t care. Let them sigh, and think him foolish. So long as he had Kraglin, or Kraglin’s body at the end of the day, they could say whatever they wanted. He had to see for himself if Krags really had shot himself. If so, Yondu had sworn to himself to give him a proper funeral.

  
  


~~~

  
  


Another few seconds. In through the nose, out through the mouth, keep calm, and wait a little bit more. Kraglin waited as long as he could stand before quickly untwisting and reconnecting the wires to the life support. The fans hummed, and Kraglin leaned over to the vents, remembering what it was to breathe clean air. After a few moments his head stopped swimming, and now all he had to do was wait for the pod to fill up fully before switching the power back to the distress signal. 

  
  


He had a good system down now, and the only problem was that he was getting more exhausted with each switch over. It was taking longer for him to catch his breath, and it was too dark to tell, but he thought his vision might be getting fuzzy as well. Sweat stained his reds--the cursed leather jumpsuit that he didn’t have enough room to take off fully--and he began to fantasize about the shower he was going to take once he got back on board the ship. If he ever did get back, that is.

  
  


Yondu had said he had a track on the pod, so there was no reason to think he wouldn’t come. Kraglin kept that thought in his head,  _ ‘There’s no reason to he wouldn’t come. There’s no reason he wouldn’t come.’  _

  
  


Unless, of course, Yondu thought he was dead, and wouldn’t bother coming.

  
  


That one doubt tagged onto Kraglin’s one hope like a worm, and did undermined the purpose of the former. His last words to Yondu had been ‘just leave me be.’ and he hadn’t been talking too sane before the blaster went off, so it seemed to be a rational assumption. This was why Kraglin had to get the power switched back to the signal as soon and for as long as possible. Ten minutes was usually enough to fill up the pod. He knew he had to get the power switched back, but maybe a few minutes of air wouldn’t hurt.

  
  


The hum of the fans seemed soothing. Kraglin couldn’t remember if he had slept since his pod was launched from the ship. How long ago had that been now? Still two days? Who knows, it might’ve been five, and he wouldn’t have had a clue. Since he started switching the power back and forth it was a bit easy to track time. Ten minutes on the distress call, ten minutes on the life support, then back again. He’d done that maybe four times. Was that an hour, hour and a half? Kraglin couldn’t seem to focus on math at the moment. 

  
  


He slumped into the chair. In spirit, he was lying down, but the confines of the ship only allowed him this one position. (If he was mad at Yondu for anything, he was mad at Yondu for making him sit for multiple day cycles) His eyelids began to droop, but his mind began to panic. Should he sleep? Should he stay awake until rescue came? Should he even bother hoping for rescue? He could sleep when he was back aboard the  _ Eclector _ . He made up his mind to wake up, but his eyes were closing, and his body was relaxing, and waking up wasn’t an option.

  
  


A green light engulfing the ship startled the sleep out of him. Any weariness was forgotten and Kraglin didn’t know what else to do about the light other than let loose a terrified scream. 

  
  


Wait.

  
  


Wait, that was just the  _ Eclector’s _ tractor beam. 

  
  


_ Wait, that was the Eclector’s tractor beam! _

  
  


Kraglin leapt up and began making as much noise as he possibly could. If Yondu had thought he was dead, he had to prove otherwise before they cracked open the pod in open space. He banged against the hull of the pod, and screamed. He didn’t even pause to remember that sound couldn’t travel in space. But after three or more days of sitting on his bony ass, sleeping on his toilet, having a purpose and  _ doing something _ felt relieving in and of itself. 

  
  


The pod jerked, and Kraglin was thrown to the side as the  _ Eclector _ ’s artificial gravity took over, and the pod was moved to the loading dock. Kraglin sat in the chair--he prayed for the last time--and braced his arms against the sides of the pod. His shouts of excitement dissolved into sobs as he realized the shower he had been fantasizing about could be a reality. 

  
  


He barely waited for the pod and the loading dock to pressurize before pushing the door release. There was a gush of wind as the seal broke, and the oxygen in each room equalized. He stumbled from the pod and realized his entire body was sore to a degree he had never felt before. His head was swimming with his stomach, and the blood in his ears was making it hard to hear the chatter echoing around him. 

  
  


Everything was so loud. There was the hum of the engines, clanking machinery, voices in the distance, and a loud, thudding pair of footsteps that sounded like they were running.

A wracked, desperate voice screamed his name from somewhere far off. Kraglin’s body was painfully jostled, and he was rolled onto his back, looking up at a clouded, blue blob. Kraglin couldn’t see right, and he had no idea who this was who was holding him, but from they way they were cradling his body, he guessed it was Yondu.

  
  


Kraglin blacked out.

  
  


~~~

  
  


Waking up was a blissfully slow process. Kraglin was first aware that his reds were gone, and he was only wearing a shirt and boxers. They were clean, and he felt like he was blessed by the stars. Next, he noticed the furs under his legs and the blanket that covered him. Everything felt so soft. Something was stroking his hair, probably someone, and Kraglin shifted.

  
  


He was suddenly reminded that everything hurt. The previous moment’s bliss was broken by a sharp gasp as all of his muscles, pent up from sitting for three days, were used again. Kraglin was also reminded that he hadn’t drank any water in those days when he tried to cry out in pain, and all that came out was a croaking whine. The mattress he was laying on shook a little, and after some painful rearranging, Kraglin was in a sitting position, resting against a blue chest, between two muscular thighs. 

  
  


Yondu held a water bottle up to Kraglin’s mouth, and he started off with a few sips. It was torture to not gulp the whole thing down, but he knew that’d make himself sick. Yondu went back to stroking Kraglins’ hair, and Kraglin rested his head back against Yondu’s chest.

  
  


“Good morning, Krags.”

  
  


Kraglin groaned back in response, and, with great effort, turned his head to the side and kissed Yondu’s chest. Yondu’s arms wrapped around Kraglin’s shoulders in a hug, and they savored a moment neither thought would happen again.

  
  


They lay there in silence for quite some time, simply enjoying the moment. It started as a serene silence, but slowly the past was remembered, and the silence became uncomfortable. Kraglin gave Yondu a chance to break the silence first, but he knew that eventually he would be the one to speak first. 

  
  


He tried starting it out with a joke, “So I call you out about being wrong, and you shoot me out the airlock?”

  
  


The joke went sour, and Kraglin could feel Yondu’s body tense up. 

  
  


“I wasn’t thinkin’, okay?! I just haven’t been doin’ a lot of thinkin’!” Yondu sighed into Kraglin’s hair, “I just… I do think you deserve better, though.”

  
  


Kraglin knew this would be a serious conversation, but he hadn’t expected the crack in Yondu’s voice. Maybe he shouldn’t have joked.

  
  


“Yondu,” Kraglin said, “neither one of us is perfect. I wasn’t thinking when I was yelling at you, on the Bridge no less. The whole situation was handled poorly, but it’s out in the open now, and we need to figure out what happens next.”

  
  


“What happens next is you should find someone who’s not a toxic asshole and be their first mate instead.”

  
  


Kraglin grunted at Yondu and gave him a light smack on the knee, “You’re not a toxic asshole, you’re just ignorant sometimes. And you know what the difference is, between you and a toxic asshole?”

  
  


“An actual toxic asshole wouldn’t collect troll dolls.” Yondu said, dryly.

  
  


“An actual toxic asshole doesn’t admit that they’re an actual toxic asshole.” Kraglin rested his hand on Yondu’s thigh, and stroked it with his thumb, “an actual toxic asshole doesn’t want to change or apologize. Not that I remember an official apology, but I know you regret-”

  
  


Yondu’s arms flexed around Kraglin again, hugging him closer, and grunted, “Wait, did you not hear my apology?”

  
  


Kraglin blinked, “Well no, but I know you sounded very sorry over the com, and you promised quite a lot then, so I wasn’t going to nag for much.”

  
  


“How much do you remember after we got you in the loading dock?”

  
  


Kraglin tried to think back, “Well I remember opening the door and feeling ill, ‘cause I couldn’t wait for the pod to pressurize, but I can’t remember what happened after that.”

  
  


“Yeah, then you threw up all over my reds while I cradled you in my arms.”

  
  


“Wait, what?”

  
  


Yondu snorted, and chuckled at the ceiling, “Hoo boy, well, um. I didn’t think you’d be alive when we found you, so seein’ the pod poppin’ open on its own was a fright. Then I saw you alive, and I completely lost my shit in front of the crew. Sobbin’ and holding you in my arms, the whole lot. I was halfway through my first round of ‘I’m so very sorry’ when you got sick all over me, and conked out for real. I cut things short, and got us both to the showers. After changing you, and myself, I lay you down here, and that kinda brings us up to the present.”

  
  


“But… I don’t remember throwing up.”

  
  


“You wanna smell my reds over in the hamper to prove it?”

  
  


Kraglin couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cringe. Yondu was laughing at Kraglin’s embarrassment, so Kraglin allowed himself some chuckles. 

  
  


After the laughter died down, Kraglin coughed and brought up the next tough subject, “How’d the crew take it? Me, coming back from High and Dry.”

  
  


Yondu grunted again, “High and Dry means we leave your fate in the hands of the stars. Well, the stars wanted you back on board here with me.”

  
  


“Did the stars sneak in that long-distance com?” 

  
  


“The stars want you to stop asking questions and kiss ‘em.” 

  
  


Kraglin felt the scrape of Yondu’s stubble on his shoulder, and he turned his head to the side again, to kiss Yondu. It lingered, and they both needed it. It might’ve been one or three kisses together, but they didn’t bother keeping track. Kraglin shifted, and with a little bit of help from Yondu, he got himself rolled over so that he wouldn’t have to crane his neck so far to kiss. 

  
  


They lay there for quite some time, exchanging kisses. They lay in silence for a while, just on the verge of napping when the intercom on the door buzzed.

  
  


“--Captain? Stakar’s on the view screen--”

  
  


Yondu didn’t wait for that sentence to finish, “We’re not here!”

  
  


“--But he says he’s not going to wait, he really needs to talk to you about, um, what happened--”

  
  


Yondu leaned up and barked at the door, “Tell Stakar I’m on the pot, takin’ a shit, and I’ll call back in two hours!”

  
  


Kraglin leaned his chin up, and kissed Yondu’s cheek to help calm him down, “Are you sure you don’t want to deal with that?”

  
  


Yondu growled and hugged Kraglin tightly, “I’ve got three days of not layin’ with you to make up for. Stakar can wait for two hours.”

  
  


“But are you sure we can make up three day’s worth of laying in two hours?”

  
  


Yondu began leaving kisses along Kraglin’s brow and smirked, “Well I guess we’ll just have to get laid and see!”

**Author's Note:**

> I was reading the Star-Lord comics and they kept talking about 'high and dry' (SO MANY TIMES I ALMOST GOT SICK OF IT) but then i got this little idea. Hope you liked it!


End file.
